Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lessened its position in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,314 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $16,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,481,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 94.2% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 262,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,665,000 after acquiring an additional 15,058 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 53.2% during the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 13,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nucor during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,230,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on NUE. Citigroup raised Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Nucor in a report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Nucor from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Nucor from $190.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $189.67.

Nucor Stock Performance

NUE stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $156.63. The company had a trading volume of 362,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,465,044. The firm has a market cap of $37.55 billion, a PE ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 1.57. Nucor Co. has a 1-year low of $140.07 and a 1-year high of $203.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $166.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 4.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.62%. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Nucor Co. will post 10.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.71%.

Nucor Profile

Nucor Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. It operates in three segments: steel mills, steel products, and raw materials. The Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and sheet piling structural steel products; bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and engineered special bar quality products; and engages in the steel trading and rebar distribution businesses.